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Covenant is Foundational to Congregational Polity

At General Assembly (GA) 2013, UUs were asked to think deeply about the promises they make. What are our promises to each other, to our fellow congregants, to any UUs? How do we show up for each other? What Do We Promise One Another?

Covenant is the silk that joins Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations, communities, and individuals together in a web of interconnection. The practice of promising to walk together is the precious core of our creedless faith.

“Covenant” is both a noun and a verb. It can be a written agreement among individual community members promising to behave in certain ways, and it can mean to engage in mutual promises with Spirit, with other people and communities.

Covenants within UU congregations and Communities

Some congregations and communities don’t have written covenants, which can make it hard for people to understand and practice how community members aspire to be together, and hard to know what to do when those aspirations fall short. In this way, covenants are like holy signposts that help a group of people know where they are headed and how.

Here are some examples of covenants that members of congregations or communities make amongst themselves:

Covenants of Right Relations, which often clarify expectations for individual behaviors in our communities:

Every congregation has covenanted to “affirm and promote” our “Principles and Practices” and to promise “one another our mutual trust and support.” Beyond these mutual commitments, which each congregation makes when it formally joins the Association, it can be hard to know exactly how congregations and communities are called to steward their associational covenant.

Here are examples of how some congregations honor this larger covenant: